Family Splice
by WishedTwiceOver
Summary: This is only the first chapter. Wilbur Robinson and Violet Parr are engaged, and ready to tell his parents.
1. Chapter 1

The Announcement

Violet looked at the pictures in the hallway. In one particularly pretty frame was a couple on their wedding day. The groom was good looking in that undeniably nerdy way. The bride was beautiful in that drop-dead gorgeous kind of way.

"So," she thought to herself, "These are my future in-laws. Hmmm...They look normal enough. What was Wilbur talking about?" Nervously, she practiced her introduction, should Wilbur not be back in time to introduce her. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Robinson...or should I call you Cornelius and Franny?" No, no, that wasn't right. She tried again. "So you're who Wilbur talks about all the time! I was beginning to think he was actually an orphan and just making you up!" Then she remembered that her future father-in-law had been in an orphanage for nearly thirteen years before becoming a Robinson. Oops. Maybe orphan jokes weren't a good idea. She was about to try a different approach when she heard footsteps approaching and turned around.

"Hey sweetheart," her fiancé said as he walked briskly to her and stood by her side. "I see you've met my parents." She laughed, exhaling at the same time, in relief.

"Sort of...I'm practicing. You scared me, by the way. I'm nervous."

"Don't be," he said, kissing her forehead. "They're going to love you. They can't believe a found a girl who's willing to put up with me. When they see I found an AMAZING girl who LOVES me...well, they'll be ecstatic, to say the least."

"Oh Wil—"

He interrupted.

"What? I feel it only fair to warn you about their enthusiasm!" She smiled.

"I hope that's the case."

"It will be." He gave her hand a little squeeze. "Trust me."

[Down the hall…]

"Franny?" Cornelius yelled.

"I'm in here!" a voice responded.

"Where's 'here'?" He hated it when she did this. "Honey, I can't follow your voice through this house."

"What? You haven't invented a tracker for your wife?" She walked out of the kitchen with her apron still on, her hair a little messed up in the front. "Did you need something?"

"Well, no...I just thought you should know that Wilbur's car is parked in the front."

"They're here already?" She whipped off the apron and started fixing her hair. "Lewis, get the door and just talk to them a bit while I freshen up...please."

"Just remember—Don't call me Lewis in front of them. His girlfriend may not understand your going back and forth between two names."

"Oh dear, I'm sure he's told her," she laughed. "They've been dating for a while, haven't they?"

"Yeah, that's true. At least a year I think. But just—"

"I know, I know. Now _please_ go answer the door, they're probably already inside and waiting at the entryway."

"I'm going," Cornelius said. "Don't _you _take too long. You look beautiful. Improve any more and Violet might think you're Wilbur's sister."

Just as Franny had predicted, Wilbur and Violet were standing in the entryway. Cornelius heard them talking in hushed tones as he walked down the hall.

"But it hasn't been very long," He heard the young woman say.

"I know, but they'll understand. Relax, Vi."

"Didn't you say they dated for four years before getting married?"

Cornelius stopped. Married? He waited for a moment to gain his composure, then walked in calmly.

"So you're who Wilbur's been talking about all the time!" He said, shaking her hand. "Franny and I were beginning to think he'd been making you up, dating some imaginary girlfriend!"

Violet smiled. 'I might have been able to get away with that first introduction after all,' she thought, then responded, "I was beginning to think the same about you and Fr—your wife."

"You can call us by our first names, young lady," he said warmly. "Anyone who means so much to Wilbur is practically family." He gave a barely noticeable wink to his son. "Isn't that right?"

Wilbur gulped. How did his dad know? How _much _did he know? Was he okay with this? Apparently, he had been a little more apprehensive than he'd let on when talking to Violet (or when reassuring himself). He just nodded.

"Well, Franny was busy finishing up in the kitchen when you got here, but she'll be out shortly. In the meantime, make yourself at home," Cornelius pointed to the living room chairs and sat in the one kitty corner from the fireplace.

"Thank you," Violet said quietly, sitting in the loveseat with a very anxious looking Wilbur. "Wil told me you were nice, but I didn't expect to feel this welcome." She blushed at her own honesty. "I guess I should have known, after dating this guy though, huh?" She squeezed her fiance's hand and smiled sweetly at him. Cornelius smiled as well at this sincere sign of affection, and was just about to offer to get some beverages when Franny came into the room.

"Sorry I'm late," she said apologetically.

"Oh no, no...We're actually a little early," Violet said, getting up to greet who she knew would be her future mother-in-law. Instead of a handshake, Franny gave her a warm hug, then beckoned to Wilbur.

"Wilbur, get over here and give your mother a hug! I haven't seen you in four months!"

Wilbur walked over and obliged her, and she kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," she said. "And I'm so glad you finally decided to let us meet this mystery girl." Her eyes were twinkling as she looked at her son. "We've heard so many good things about you," she said to Violet. "And you're even sweeter and more beautiful than he told us! And, like I said, he's told us a lot."

"Oh, don't believe all of it," Violet said, playfully hitting Wilbur on the arm. "He tends to exaggerate, and you're too kind, really."

"Don't be so modest," Franny said, "For once, he didn't exaggerate." She put her hand on Violet's shoulder. "Are you starving or would you like a tour first?"

"Well, if the food's ready, then I can wait on the tour," Violet said, looking back at Wilbur for agreement. "What about you? You said you were pretty hungry on the drive up."

"Yeah, yeah," Wilbur said. "Let's eat first."

Other than Wilbur's silence, the dinner conversation was quite pleasant. Wilbur had made his parents promise to send the hoards of relatives off on a cruise, so as not to overwhelm his girlfriend. Now, he had his parents, and only his parents, to inform. For the appetizer and the main course, he waited for the perfect time, but soon realized that time would never come. He simply had to come out and say it. Taking Violet's hand, he whispered, "This is it. You alright?" She nodded, smiling ear-to-ear.

"I have an announcement," said the young Robinson, clinking his spoon against the wine glass. His parents looked at each other. He continued. "As you know, Violet and I have been dating for a while now—"

"Seven months," she interjected.

Wilbur cleared his throat. "Yes, seven months…" His mother now looked a bit concerned. Wilbur had given them a different story over the phone. Now, in her gut, she knew what was about to happen, and she understood why he had stretched out the dating period in his version of the story.

"…and we're getting married!" Wilbur said the last part quickly and sat back down. He looked at his mother's shocked expression, as she turned to Cornelius, then looked back at her son and his now fiancé. She cleared her throat and lifted her glass,

"Well, that's great!" she said, smiling. "A toast to our son and our future daughter!"

Hugs ensued, and the usual "Congratulations" and "We knew the way he talked about you…" comments. The rest of the evening went off without a hitch, and everyone seemed to be in high spirits as the two left to go back to their university dorms. Shutting the door, Franny's expression immediately changed. She looked at her husband for some emotional response to what had just happened.

"Well?!" she put her hands on her hips.

"Well,' what?" he replied.

"Aren't you going to…I don't know…_react_ to this? Our son, our only son, who has been known to have poor judgment in the past, who leaps before he thinks, who hasn't finished school, and who has only had ONE serious girlfriend for SEVEN months, is now marrying that girlfriend!" She stopped, a little out of breath. This sort of outburst wasn't like her. The last time Cornelius had seen her even close to being this upset had been when their son busted one time machine, caused the other to be stolen, and risked upsetting the future of their family by bringing him, twelve-year-old Cornelius (then called Lewis), to the present time.

"Cornelius…?" Franny was speaking softer now. "Don't you have anything to say about this?"

"She seems like a sweet, intelligent girl," he said calmly, and put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

Franny sighed, and leaned on his shoulder. "I hope so," she said. "For both their sakes."


	2. Chapter 2

Little Moments

"And this is Violet on her second birthday," explained Helen Parr, Violet's mother. "Look at that face!"

"I think some of the cake actually went in her mouth," her father, Bob, added.

Wilbur was at the Parr residence, looking through photo albums with Violet's family.

"Oh, this is a good one," Dash, the oldest of her two younger brothers, held up a school picture. "Hey Wilbur, wanna see Violet as a Goth? She was in fifth grade, I think…"

"What? We _kept_ that picture?" Violet groaned. "I thought I threw it out.

"Oh no, your mother's got a million copies," Bob said, giving his daughter a side hug. "Gosh honey, you've really grown up."

"Mmm hmmm…Time flies, that's for sure." Helen shook her head as she looked at her daughter. "I just can't believe you're in college already, and—Wilbur," she turned to him with a reassuring smile, "I'm glad she has you with her." She put her hand on his shoulder when she spoke, then got up and looked around. "Where's Jack?"

"Probably in his room playing video games," Dash said, without looking up from the photos. "Wow, I don't remember being a chubby kid…"

"Yep," Violet said with a smug grin. "I was Goth and you were fat."

"Chubby!" Dash protested.

Wilbur laughed. "Let me see…I'll give an honest opinion." Dash handed him the album, and he cocked his head in an exaggerated thinking mode. "Chubby and Goth-wannabe. That's my verdict." Violet sighed.

"Betrayal," she said with a fake pout, then lifted an eyebrow. "But _you—_" she said, poking her fiancé in the ribs. "_You_ were downright emo."

"Uh, objection fair lady," he held one hand on his heart. "I believe you meant to say that I've always been effortlessly stylish and devilishly handsome." They kissed, and Dash rolled his eyes.

"Well, as much as I'd like to stay here and watch you two be mushy and crap, I think I'd better go help Mom find Jack. No doubt he's doing something a little more exciting."

"Alright, alright," Wilbur put both hands in the air. "Look Dash," he said. "No hands! You're safe to sit on the couch again!"

"No thanks," the young superhero said, then muttered under his breath, "It's already been contaminated."

Wilbur looked back at Violet. "I was hoping he'd say that."

"Well, looks like I'm the only one left intruding," Bob said with a slight grunt as he got up from the couch.

"Goodnight Dad." Violet gave him a kiss on the cheek. Now that she was about to start planning a wedding, she started to notice, for the first time, the effect of time on her own family. Her parents were no longer very active in the Supers community—at least as kick-ass super_heroes_. Nowadays, age and raising three kids had caught up with them enough that they had mostly resigned to board meetings and such.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" Wilbur asked, squeezing her shoulder.

"Oh," she gave a little sigh. "Nothing much. Just reminiscing." She took one last look at the photo album. "Please say you're done with photo viewing."

"I'm good for tonight," he took the album and placed it on the coffee table. "Who needs photos when you have the real thing sitting next to you?" The couple kissed again, both wishing it was a year from then, in their own living room. Then again, this was just one of those little moments of the in-between stages in life that would be a shame to miss.


	3. Chapter 3

Two Worlds Collide

They had been engaged for exactly one month, dating for seven months prior, and this was the first time that their parents would meet. Violet wondered if that was normal. She was the first of her friends to get married, so her only reference was romantic comedies and the memories of her superhero parents, who had always been slow to introduce new people into their inner circle, especially at the time they were married, around the height of their career. Her fiancé, on the other hand, appeared to have no concern whatsoever for how things were "normally" done, or how things "appeared," or what was the "average" time for this or that…He was a carefree personality raised in a home where there was no standard—except when it came to behavior and grades. The most important value his family had upheld was "be yourself."

For the first twelve years of her life, Violet had grown up hiding who she really was, what she could really do, and trying desperately to fit in with the masses. And it was hard. It was more than a social concern; It was an issue for the entire family. How do you really fit in when you were born to stand out? Her brothers seemed to be the only ones immune to that "who-are-you-and-who-should-you-_appear-_to-be" curse. She assumed it was because Jack had been a baby at the time when they most feared utilizing their powers, and Dash…well, he had a similar temperament to Wilbur. Maybe that was why they got along so well, despite the age difference. Or perhaps it was the shared love of sports and video games.

She sighed. This business of being engaged and getting married was already beginning to influence her thinking. She had to talk to someone about all this before her family and family-to-be met. Looking at the clock, that gave her three hours.

The phone barely rang.

"Vi! I was just about to call you," her mother's voice said on the other line. She smiled. Her mother thought caller ID was the best thing since spandex.

"Is it alright if I come over early? Just to talk. And I'll help you clean a little if you need it," she said.

"Well, sure honey. But the house is all ready; you don't need to do a thing. Is something wrong?"

"Not really…I mean, I just have a lot on my mind that I want to talk about before Wilbur's parents come over, and I wanted to talk to you in person."

"Whatever you need, honey."

"Thanks."

As she pulled up the driveway, Violet remembered that she'd told Wil to be there at 4 o'clock—even though the dinner was at five—because he was usually late whenever she wasn't with him to keep him on track of time. She hoped he would be late as usual so she could get in all the mother-daughter time she needed.

Her mom greeted her at the door with a big hug.

"Where's Dad?" she asked. "I didn't see his car in the driveway."

"Oh, I sent him and your brothers to pick up the cake. Just to keep them out of trouble and give us some time."

"Thanks."

"Of course. What's up sweetie?"

They walked over to the couch, and Violet practically melted into the chair.

"I'm just thinking a lot…and wondering, ya know, about how things are supposed to work, and if we're too young and we're getting in over our heads." Her eyes were a little moist. "It's just…a little more emotional than I expected. I mean, this soon. We've only been engaged for a month, and I feel…I feel…" She searched for the word.

"Overwhelmed?" Her mom suggested. She nodded, and started crying.

"Oh honey," Helen held her daughter close. "That's perfectly normal. A lot of people feel that way early on in their engagement, and I think everyone feels that way—at one point or another—when they're about to get married."

Violet looked up at her, and dried her face with her sleeve. (She was glad she'd brought clothes to change in to right before the gathering.) "Really?"

"Absolutely," her mom said soothingly.

"How soon did you start feeling this way?"

"About one week after your dad asked me to marry him."

"One week?"

Her mother shrugged. "I guess I was a little bit of wary of commitment. I just wasn't sure if it was the right time."

"Oh." Violet thought for a moment. "Anything else? Did anything else make you nervous?"

"Sure, lots of things! Like…" her mom paused. "…like if I was ready to settle down, if Bob—"she corrected herself with a smile, "if your father, knew what he was getting himself into, if we would have enough money, if our parents approved…"

"Yeah, those are a lot of the same things I'm worried about," Violet said, "Not necessarily if Wilbur and I are ready, but if he realizes what this means, how _big_ this is…And I'm _definitely_ not concerned about him being the right one—I know he's the right one, but I do wonder about all the experiences we might miss out on that would have taught us, or prepared us, a little more."

"I think that proves you're ready for this."

"What? That I'm doubting?"

"Well, yes. If you didn't have _any_ doubts, that would make you out to be a bit unrealistic about marriage."

They heard the sound of the door opening, and the boys fighting over who would get to play video games for the last hour before company came.

"You were playing all yesterday!" Dash was saying and they heard Jack reply, "Well that's because you were gone with your '_girlfriend_," as their father yelled, "We're home!"

"So we noticed," Helen yelled back. "Vi, are you alright or do you want to keep talking in my room? I'll have to help the boys in a while, but we have at least an hour if you need it."

"I'm fine." She looked over at the kitchen. "I think they need help _now._"

Her mom laughed. "Oh yes, we have to settle who has the last shift on that mind-melter…" She rolled her eyes.


End file.
